Contents

Kalani's father was the target of the bitterness of the Moshi Daimyo, Moshi Jukio, against male shugenja. Because of that Kalani and his brother, Moshi Mogai, were ignored in their clan. Kalani struggled to have the attention of Jukio. [1]

In 1156 Kalani attended Winter Court with Moshi Jukio's retinue. By happestance he was involved in a Kemari game, which Kalani caught on quickly and found that he was quite talented. Kalani taught it to several of his friends, and continued playing it during his time in Otosan Uchi, where he became very popular. The courtiers of the Imperial City placed large wagers upon his games, and Kalani's name became known throughout the courts of the Empire. [4]

Seizing upon Kalani's popularity, Yoritomo Kitao made several public appearances with the young samurai immediately after her rise to power, earning Kitao reflected respect. [4] Kalani became her favorite of and he was truly loyal to her, even after a movement against Lady Kitao began within the Mantis Clan. [2]

When the Mantis Civil War began, Kalani gave his support to neither side, [5] although he began to rethink his indifference with each day that passed. The young athlete had spent so much of his life avoiding politics that he was entirely unprepared for his current dilemma, to be perceived as a supporter of Kitao or to distance himself from her avoiding punishment if Kumiko succeeded. [4]

The boy guided Kalani's ship to his village between submerged razor sharp reefs, a place selected by Aramasu himself. A tall rock wall that seemed naturally occurring, but which concealed the interior of an atoll. Inside the rock wall was a massive body of water, likely connected to the greater sea filled with vessels. Anshu said his father had instructed them that they were to be called the Fourth Storm. [13] The vessels that formed the Storm were enormous, the Atakebune, and were built by a small group of Mantis left behind by Aramasu. Eight of them remained, and some had been assassinated by the foul Cult of Ruhmal. [16]

Yoritomo Rui's ship had sailed up the coast during the Mantis landfall. She used Yoritomo Singh as guidance, but a near major port city was found destroyed, with no survivors, no corpses or skeletons, or even any grave. In the distance the Maharaja's palace, which used to dominate the sightseeing, was not seeing, so Singh assumed it was also lost. A sign of the Ruhmalites was found all around the empty city, and Kalani realized the Ivory Kingdoms had become the Ruined Kingdoms. [16]

A Mantis patrol was lost in the jungle and the search party found the remnants of the inhabitants of the area. A chasm was filled up with bodies and they had dumped dirt over all of it, making a mass grave of tens of thousands corpses. All of them had been sacrificed in a ritual. Three cuts had been made, one in the right side, another in the throat, and the last in the heart. The Mantis of the lost patrol were not found. [17] Kalani sent Tsuruchi Arishia and Gidayu to clean the area from cultists. [18]

A marine monster was harassing the Mantis fleet, and it even destroyed several ships. The attempts to kill it were wasteful, the monster rendered an aura that became mad to those who saw to it directly. In 1173 Kalani visited a propheticshojoEn'you to ask the way to destroy the creature. Kalani returned knowing he was the only man who would manage to kill it. Komori guided his strikes seeing through the eyes of a bird, and the monster was no more. Kalani sent an alcoholic beverage to the sea spirit in recognition. [20]

Kalani prepared the return to report Naizen. He would give him the maps of the explored area, and information about Kali-Ma. A ruhmalist cultist who had been taken prisoner had endured any attempt to take information from him. Komori noticed a magical connection linked the gaijin with his masters, bolstering him and even they communicated through it. The Bat shugenja severed it and the man was questioned to death by Singh. Before he died he passed information about Yuna, vessel of Gods, chosen servant of Kali-Ma. [20] The Mantis set out to wipe out the remaining Ruhmal cultists in the Ivory Kingdoms in order to cut off the flow of sacrificial power they were sending to Kali-Ma. [21]

The Phoenix used the taxing ritual to inform Kalani the Destroyer War had ended with the victory of the Empire and the death of Kali-Ma. Komori believed Yuna would unify the cult with him at the head, so the period of disarray would not last very long. Kalani sent his men to hunt the ruhmalist leader. [22]